SNAP/EBT
at your
fArmErS mArkET:
SNAP/EBT at Your Farmers Market: Seven Steps to Success
Published by
Project for Public Spaces, Inc. and
Wholesome Wave Written by
Nora Owens and Kelly Verel © Project for Public Spaces Inc. and Wholesome Wave
Written by
NorA owENS
and
kElly vErEl
SNAP/EBT
at your
fArmErS mArkET:
AckNowlEdgEmENTS
The growth of SNAP benefit redemption projects at
farmers markets across the United States is exciting
and in no small part due to the work and dedication
of a number of individuals, many of whom helped
us put this handbook together. Several people
deserve particular credit for their input including
Alexandra Ashbrook of DC Hunger Solutions,
Suzanne Briggs of collaboration, Diane Eggert of the
Farmers’ Market Federation of New York, Stacy
Miller of the Farmers Market Coalition, Callie
Rubbins-Breen formerly of marketumbrella.org,
Leslie Schaller of Appalachian Center for Economic
Networks and Gus Schumacher of Wholesome
Wave. We would also like to acknowledge and thank
the many farmers markets who shared their SNAP
project stories which enrich this handbook so that
other markets can benefit from best practices and
lessons learned. And finally, a special thank you
to the United States Department of Agriculture’s
(USDA) Agriculture and Marketing Service (AMS)
and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) for their
support to farmers markets across the country,
especially in their efforts to expand SNAP.
NorA owENS
and
kElly vErEl
ABouT ThE PuBliShErS
ABouT ProjEcT for PuBlic SPAcES
Founded in 1975, Project for Public Spaces (PPS) is a nonprofit planning, design and educational organization dedicated to helping people create and sustain public spaces that build stronger
communities. PPS’s Public Market Program aims to foster the role of public markets in reconnecting local economies and communities and to support the pivotal role that markets play in supporting public health and local food systems. For 25 years, PPS has provided assistance to market sponsors, managers, and community development officials in more than 200 cities and towns in both the U.S. and internationally, helping public markets become economically sustainable centers of community life. Through training programs, conferences, research and projects, the Public Markets Program promotes new models and innovative practices for public markets that achieve broad benefits for communities. With support from the Ford Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, PPS completed a $3 million, 3-year grant program in 2008 to enhance the positive impacts of public markets on communities. Through this program, grants were awarded to over 40 markets in 22 states. PPS is based in New York City.
ABouT wholESomE wAvE
The mission of Wholesome Wave is to nourish neighborhoods by supporting increased production and access to healthy, fresh, and affordable locally grown food for the well-being of all. Wholesome Wave, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization, develops partnership-based programs to serve food deserts of historically excluded urban and rural communities by:
• Nourishing family farmers that produce healthy, sustainable, locally grown foods with meaningful and sustainable business opportunities;
• Nourishing communities by building stronger relationships between local family farmers and the needy they serve;
• Nourishing the health of America by slowing the explosive rise in healthcare costs by improving access to healthy, fresh, and affordable locally grown foods.
Nourishing Neighborhoods, the umbrella campaign for Wholesome Wave’s programs, benefits vulnerable consumers and our nation’s struggling small-scale farmers. Wholesome Wave aims to positively impact the health and wellness of historically excluded communities through direct economic links to support America’s small farmers. The core program in Wholesome Wave’s Nourishing Neighborhoods campaign is the highly successful Double Value Coupon Program, which doubles the value of SNAP, when used at participating farmers markets nationwide. From the launch of the program in 2008 at farmers markets in Fairfield County, Connecticut; San Diego, California; Boston and Holyoke, Massachusetts, our Double Value Coupon Program has expanded to more than 150 markets in over 15 states and the District of Columbia.
forEw0rd
Wholesome Wave and PPS are proud to jointly present this important publication to help increase the number of farmers markets accepting SNAP benefits. The country is at an exciting time in the fight against food insecurity. Through collaborative efforts, such as this Hand -book, and the expansion of incentive programs like the Double Value Coupon Program, PPS and Wholesome Wave hope to be a catalyst for improving not only the economic viability of farming, but also to improve nutrition in America’s food deserts, strengthen diverse com-munities, and reduce health care costs. The resulting outcome will mean that underserved communities and the farmers markets that serve them will have played a significant role in making local, sustain -able food systems a reality.
STEPhEN dAviES
Senior Vice President Project for Public Spaces
michEl NiSchAN
CEO/President Wholesome Wave
TABlE
of
coNTENTS
iNTroducTioN 8
STEP 1: ASSESS your mArkET’S cAPAciTy ANd commiTmENT
11
STEP 2: kNow your cuSTomEr/PoTENTiAl cuSTomEr
13
STEP 3: crEATE A fuNdiNg STrATEgy
14
STEP 4: mArkET ANd PromoTE SNAP
17
case Studies:
Success with Simple Signage; Marketing Via Onsite Community EventsSTEP 5: crEATE PArTNErShiPS
22
case Studies:
Funding SNAP Through Smart Partnerships; Reaching a New Customer Base Through Your Partnerships; Partnerships as the Foundation of a Farmers Market SuccessSTEP 6: coNSidEr iNcENTivE ProgrAmS
27
case Studies:
The Success of Health Bucks; Steady, Measurable Growth Using Incentives;Building Partnerships and Expanding Outreach Efforts Through Incentives
STEP 7: SET uP A SNAP rEdEmPTioN SySTEm
33
case Studies:
A Wired, Individually-Operated POS Terminal System; Central POS System; Central POS Terminal/Receipt System; The Role of State Farmers Market AssociationscoNcluSioN
44
APPENdicES 46
A: What Items Can Be Bought With SNAP Benefits?
B: Sample Farmers Market Customer Survey
C: How Do I Fill Out the SNAP Benefits Retailer Application?
D: Farmers’ Market Federation of NY EBT Transaction and Redemption Logs E: Food Stamp EBT Vendor Agreement
Since 2000, the number of farmers markets across the united States
has increased 80% to reach over 5,000 by 2010. Farmers markets seem to be popping up everywhere: they can be found in neighborhood parking lots, at bus and train stops, and even in front of hospitals. Their popularity is testament to the multiple benefits they bring to customers, vendors, and communities: stimulating economic growth and job opportunity, revitalizing downtowns, creating active spaces, and helping to preserve farmland and minimize sprawl. Farmers markets are not only great community places and excellent shopping destinations; they are also key ingredients in our country’s fight to combat diet-related illness such as diabetes and heart disease, and are increasingly being developed to reach lower-income customers. Indeed, the power of markets to bring together diverse types of people and to serve all income levels makes them ideal venues to promote public health.To help ensure that customers from all economic backgrounds are able to afford to shop at their local market, many market operators are taking advan-tage of federal nutrition assistance programs that help customers purchase healthy, fresh food. These programs include the Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) for Women Infant and Children (WIC) and Seniors (SFMNP), as well as the Supple-mental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), for-merly known as the Food Stamp Program. For over a decade, FMNP coupons have been redeemed in markets and have proven to be widely successful in attracting lower income customers to markets. Today, a growing number of farmers markets are redeem-ing SNAP benefits providredeem-ing beneficiaries increased access to fresh, local food (see Appendix A for a list of eligible food items).
in 2008, over 28 million people in the u.S. were enrolled in SNAP
for a total of $35 billion dollars in benefits.1 New York City alone authorizes over $1.3 billion in SNAP benefits every year, and over 1.1 million city residents received food stamps in 2006.2 Being able to tap into this vast resource, which can only be spent on food items, clearly has great potential for farmers markets.By accepting alternative forms of payment—including SNAP, WIC FMNP and SFMNP coupons —farmers markets are creating welcoming environments where everyone, regardless of budget constraints, can feel welcome and shop. SNAP not only allows low-income families greater access to fresh nutritional foods, but also increases farmer/vendor revenue. Like FMNP, SNAP is an alternative revenue stream which can help make a market serving a predominately low-income community viable for farmers/vendors to attend.
iNTroducTioN
1. http://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/SNAPsummary.htmandhttp://www.fns.usda.gov/pd/15SNAPpartPP.htm
2. “Nutritional Programs.” NYC Human Resources Administration/Department of Social Services. 2008. NYC Human Re-sources Administration/Department of Social Services. 7 Apr 2008.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hra/html/family_independence/serv_nutritional_program.shtml
who receives SNAP?
In January 2010, one in eight people in the U.S. were receiving SNAP benefits; that’s more than 38 million people, and the number is growing daily, fueled by the weak economy and high unemployment rate. In early 2009, enrollment rose in 46 of the 50 states. SNAP serves not only the working poor, but also people temporarily unemployed, the elderly and those with disabilities.
here are a few quick facts:
Benefits are extended to U.S. citizens, legal resi -•
dents and legal immigrant children
49% of recipients are children; 9% are elderly; •
29% are working women, and 9% are working men
30% of recipients are working and 41% are from •
households where someone works
Fewer than 13% of recipients earned income •
above the poverty line and 39% live below that line, with 15% having no income at all
Most SNAP households are small: 2.2 persons, •
however, SNAP households with children aver-aged 3.3, and SNAP households with seniors averaged 1.3 persons
The majority of SNAP recipients do not receive •
welfare benefits
In 1990, 42% of recipients also received welfare •
benefits. In 2007, 12% received welfare and 30% had an income
The average benefit is $112.82 per person/month •
A BriEf hiSTory
The food Stamp Act of 1964
created the federally-funded nutrition
pro-gram which quickly became known as “food stamps” because they were distributed through paper denominational stamps or coupons. This program, which is managed by the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), assists qualified low income people living in the Unit -ed States to purchase food and food-relat-ed products. Since 2004, SNAP benefits have been distributed to recipients in all fifty states through a specialized debit card system known as Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT). Renamed SNAP in 2008, the move from paper cur-rency to EBT cards was a great step forward in reducing the stigma for those receiving these nutrition assistance program benefits, but it came at a price for farmers markets that typically lack electricity, telephone lines and point of sale (POS) terminals required to accept EBT cards. After the shift to EBT, most farmers markets that previ-ously accepted Food Stamp coupons were then unable to accept SNAP/EBT cards because they lacked the necessary technology infra-structure.Not to be deterred, farmers market operators began focusing on the use of wireless technology to provide vendors and markets with the infrastructure to accept SNAP benefits. Over time, the Central POS System and the Individual POS System have emerged as the two most popular and widely used systems.
paper food stamps
ABouT ThiS hANdBook
Creating a successful SNAP redemption program at your farm-ers market is more than acquiring the terminals, tokens and signage. It’s about creating a strong infrastructure for the program; developing a sustainable funding strategy; under-standing and meeting the needs of a diverse customer base; and creating community partnerships to extend the reach of the program through marketing, promotions and incentives. This handbook addresses the steps needed to set up SNAP, and is designed to provide a comprehensive description of the elements necessary to make it successful. In addition, this handbook includes case studies of farmers markets from across the U.S. representing a variety of locations and experiences— rural and urban, big and small, new and established—to serve as an example of how to creatively and successfully operate a SNAP project. And finally, this handbook provides additional resources, such as recordkeeping templates, a sample customer survey, and links to organizational resources and other SNAP/ EBT guides, to help you launch a successful SNAP project at your farmers market.
The central PoS System
that uses scrip enables a farmers market to have one FNS permit and to operate a cen-tral POS terminal for all participating vendors. Customers redeeming SNAP benefits swipe their EBT card at a central location at the market and receive tokens or paper scrip which they spend like cash for eligible food at the market. Payment is electronically transferred directly into the market’s bank account. Market management distributes payments to vendors and assumes responsibility for accounting and reporting requirements. This is the most common method for redeeming SNAP benefits.The individual PoS System
allows individual farmers/vendors to manage their own SNAP redemption by ob-taining their own FNS permit; purchase/lease their own POS terminal; and independently accept SNAP benefits at their stalls. In this system, a customer swipes his/her card at the vendor’s stall and the sale is completed without the need for tokens or scrip. Payments are directly deposited in the vendor’s bank ac-count and there is a very limited reporting requirement.While these two systems are often used with a wireless POS terminal, markets and/or individual vendors with access to electricity and telephone landlines can instead operate one of these systems using a wired POS terminal. It is also possible to accept SNAP benefits using only a telephone and paper vouchers (see Step 7: Set up a SNAP Redemption System). For more information, visit the FNS website at http://www.fns. usda.gov/snap/ebt/fm.htm.
Accepting SNAP at your farmers market
benefits vendors and the larger community but it does require smart planning and on-going organization and support. Markets that operate successful SNAP projects all em-body two important components to achieving on-going sustainability of the project: commitment and staff capacity.commiTmENT
At the start of setting up the market’s SNAP project, be sure that the market and all of its stakeholders are committed to its success. The market’s board or advisory group, market manager, vendors, additional staff, and even volunteers need to understand what the market is trying to accomplish and how it will benefit everyone involved. On a day-to-day basis, one or a few people will ultimately be responsible for the pro-gram; however, the entire market stakeholder team needs to be committed to its success.
farmers market mission Statement
One way to determine the possible level of commitment to SNAP by your market’s stakeholders is to evalu-ate your market’s mission stevalu-atement. A one or two sentence mission stevalu-atement can help a market opera-tor prioritize which projects to pursue in a quest to meet the market’s goals. A mission statement which stresses the importance of public health and/or food access for the entire community is directly in line with implementing a SNAP project at your farmers market.
farmer/vendor interest
The market’s vendors are important stakeholders in successfully setting up SNAP benefit redemption at a farmers market, and need to be involved at every stage, from the planning process through implementa-tion. They need to understand what SNAP is; how they will benefit; and what will be required of them. It’s not unusual for vendors to initially
express reticence about accepting a new form of payment, and some may not want to participate. Keeping vendors informed and engaged in the process is essential, especially so the market can gain valuable insight about a vendor’s interest in ex-panding their crop plan to accommodate new product demand and their willingness to participate in promotional activities. Remember, vendors who may have been reluctant to participate will reduce their resistance if they see the market operator managing the SNAP project well, and if they experience or witness increased sales for other vendors.
STEP 1: ASSESS
your
mArkET’S cAPAciTy
STAff cAPAciTy
The most successful SNAP projects have at least one “champion” who is committed to ensuring the success of the project and the champion’s efforts are supported on a day-to-day basis by the work of staff members or volunteers who carry out the day-to-day operations. If your market is considering using a Central POS System to redeem SNAP, identifying staff responsibilities is especially important because this system requires more tasks. The market will need someone to staff the EBT terminal on market days, handle the record keeping, and manage the bookkeeping so vendors are reimbursed ac-curately and efficiently.
Both a Central POS System and an Individual POS System, operated by each of your eligible farmer/ven-dors, require staff members or volunteers to develop and manage the market’s relationships with partners who will build support for your SNAP project. All markets also need a staff member who will create and maintain promotional efforts.
Depending on the size of your market, one person might be able to manage all of the tasks required to operate a SNAP project, but it is wise to assess your market’s staff -ing needs and plan accord-ingly. This is especially impor-tant in the first few seasons when more time and labor will be necessary to establish the project.
Should you hire a SNAP
coordinator?
Because SNAP requires consistent administration, accurate accounting and recordkeeping, promotion, and partnership development, your market may want to hire or designate a current employee as the SNAP coordinator/ manager. Markets that have invested in a SNAP coordinator (such as Greenmarket in New York City) have seen increased sales and decreased frustration because they have a dedicated employee who not only understands the complexities of the program, but is professionally invested in its success. Relying only on volunteers is not recommended, nor is simply adding this responsibility onto the market manager’s already pressing duties. Remember to include additional resources for a paid SNAP Coordinator when you are fundraising; it will be well
STEP 2: kNow
your
cuSTomEr/PoTENTiAl
cuSTomEr
A farmers market that is dedicated
to creating a welcoming, inclusive environment that reflects the needs of all its customers is going to be well positioned to create a successful SNAP project. To cre-ate this environment, a market needs to be flexible and consider all of its customers’ needs. Market organizers should know the demographics of their community, including how many residents are currently participating in SNAP, information which your State’s SNAP director can provide (visit http://foodstamp.aphsa.org/Di-rectors.html for a directory of State SNAP directors). Knowledge of the cultural and socio-economic diversity of the community will be important in order to understand the needs of the customer base and to identify potential barriers to shopping at the market, such as language differences, transportation needs, physical accessibility for the elderly, handicapped and families; even product variety. In the planning stage, market stakeholders should evaluate the market to see how well it serves all members of the community and how well the current customer base represents the entire commu-nity. Look at the market’s sales originating from WIC FMNP and SFMNP. Consider the market’s proximity to public transportation and how accessible it is for the elderly and handicapped. Evaluat-ing these issues and others will help the market operator determine where the market needs to improve or adjust to meet the needs of new customers.One of the best methods for understanding your customer base or potential base is to administer a survey. A customer survey, admin-istered by market staff or volunteers during peak market season, will help you get a snapshot of your customer base and the ways they utilize the market. If you would like to survey potential cus-tomers, ask your market partners to distribute a survey to their clientele or survey residents near the market, perhaps at a nearby shopping center. This will help you to better understand potential customer needs and the issues that may keep them from shopping at the market. An example of a customer survey can be found in Appendix B.
Finally, engage your market’s partners to help you better understand the community. Step 5: Create Part-nerships, will delve further into this topic, but organizations such as local social service agencies, food pan-tries, and senior centers can introduce their clientele to the market, and help market operators determine how the market can successfully reach out to a wider customer base.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Setting up SNAP benefit redemption at your market
is similar to starting a farmers market: it takes time, energy and resources. And, while accepting SNAP benefits greatly enhance business for your vendors and food access for the community, the market organization is not likely to see all of its start-up, operating and labor costs covered with a SNAP-only program. As with all start-ups, it will take time and resources to develop the infrastructure (equipment, staff time), the outreach and promotion program (signage, promotional materials), community education about SNAP’s availability, and to establish new partnerships. It may take a few years for redemption levels to rise so vendors should have realistic expectations about how quickly they will see increased revenues.It is important to carefully estimate the actual cost of the program from its inception until it becomes more financially self-sustaining, and also determine whether market stakeholders are committed to financially supporting SNAP redemption for a defined period of time. And, remember that there will be costs associ -ated with running the program after the initial start-up, because monthly wireless network service, trans-action fees and labor expenses will exist for the life of the program. This section describes funding sources to assist with start-up costs and ways to create a funding strategy for your program, through grant funds, sponsorships, cost sharing and the use of debit card service fees.
grANTS
Grants are the most popular method of funding SNAP, especially to cover start-up costs when establish-ing a new program, and there are a number of grant opportunities available at the local, state and federal levels. For example, grant programs that have funded SNAP projects have ranged from the USDA’s Farm-ers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) at the national level to state grants such as, the South Dakota Department of Agriculture’s “Grower’s Grant” for SNAP equipment and Washington State’s Wireless EBT Technology Pilot Project for the purchase of wireless POS terminals, scrip, and technical assistance. The number of private foundations that are partnering with markets to assist with infrastructure costs or are funding incentive programs, like Wholesome Wave, is also growing (see Step 6: Consider Incentive Pro-grams).
To learn more about funding strategies, talk to market managers that already accept SNAP benefits, your state’s farmers market association, a FNS field representative, and your state’s EBT agency to see what funding opportunities exist. These connections will also help you identify other methods that have been used to defray the costs of starting up and managing SNAP benefits redemption at other farmers markets. A long-term plan for funding SNAP at your market is necessary for its success. Given that grant programs typically last only 12-18 months your market will need to plan ahead if its funding source is not on-going. Have a reasonable sense of what the market’s on-going costs will be to operate SNAP, including staff time for marketing, partnerships and bookkeeping, and determine how your market can budget to cover those costs.
SPoNSorShiPS
Creating and nurturing diverse community partnerships with organizations and local and state govern-ments, especially those whose missions are to increase food access, may contribute to your program’s long term funding and sustainability. Consider requesting sponsorships from these partners.
STEP 3:
create
A fuNdiNg STrATEgy
mArkET gENErATEd rEvENuE
When developing your market’s SNAP funding strategy you can think “outside the box,” particularly for the ongoing operating costs. It’s frequently assumed that the market organization will bear the entire cost of starting-up and maintaining SNAP, but if the program is successful and vendor revenues rise, the market operator should consider sharing the operating costs among the vendors. This can be done by:
• Asking participating vendors to pay for a portion of the start-up infrastructure costs (POS terminal, phone landline installation, scrip, etc.).
• Charging participating vendors a small fee that they will pay on a weekly/monthly basis, evenly divid -ing the costs of operat-ing the program between all participants. This amount will be relatively small for each vendor since it is spread out among the group. For example, if a market has 20 participat-ing vendors usparticipat-ing one wireless terminal its monthly operatparticipat-ing expenses for SNAP may include: a $50 wireless network fee, 100 transactions at $.25/per transaction ($25), and $200 in labor costs, totaling $275 per month. If the market’s 20 participating vendors divided the expenses evenly between them it would result in a fee of $13.75 per vendor per month, or just over $3.00 per vendor per week.
Your market may not be able to fund the entire program this way, but it will alleviate some of the financial burden on the market.
dEBiT ANd crEdiT
EBT technology not only allows markets to accept SNAP, it provides the opportunity for markets, gener-ally considered cash-only destinations, to also accept debit and credit cards via a wireless terminal, in most cases. Since all three card programs can expand vendor sales, SNAP offered in combination with debit and/ or credit cards offers the opportunity to provide additional revenue streams to offset SNAP operating costs. It also requires that the market engage a third party processor to provide the equipment and process pay-ments. Accepting debit and credit cards come with their own issues, complications, and fees structure, which your market should be aware of before choosing a third party processor (to learn more about third party processors, see Step 7: Set up a Redemption System). The chart on the next page identifies the pros and cons of each option for farmers markets.
You may want to run a cost analysis to determine which type of card service best suits your market’s infra-structure and staff capacity. For example, markets selling higher priced products, such as meat, poultry, cheese and specialty food items, may decide that the potential in increased sales justifies the added ex -pense and effort to accept credit cards, while a market selling primarily fruits and vegetables with lower price points may only want to offer SNAP or SNAP and debit.
If you are just starting to plan for a SNAP project and are not sure whether your market should also accept debit and/or credit cards, keep in mind that card service providers usually offer the option of adding debit and/or credit cards at any time, but check with your third party processor for more details. Also, remember that state-provided wired machines will only accept SNAP.
For further information on wireless card services refer to the report, Wireless Card Services: Supporting SNAP (Food Stamp), WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Programs found on the Farmers Market Coalition website: www.farmersmarketcoaltion.org.
SNAP-only
SNAP and debit
SNAP, debit and credit
Pros
States provide wired POS terminals to markets and vendors for free for SNAP-only projects.Wired POS Terminals don’t incur transaction fees for SNAP.
Wireless POS Terminal fixed costs ($27-45/month) and transaction fees for SNAP ($.25/transaction) are predict-able and inexpensive. 3
All customers have the con-venience of an additional payment option.
Debit transaction fees ($.40-.55/transaction) are predict-able and relatively low. “Convenience fees” can be added to debit transactions. Having debit card customers using the same POS terminal similar scrip, but in different colors, helps reduce stigma for SNAP customers.
All customers have the conve-nience of an additional pay-ment option.
“Convenience fees” can be added to debit transactions. Having debit and credit card customers using the same POS terminal and similar scrip, but in different colors, helps re -duce stigma for SNAP custom-ers.
cons
Vendor sales can be limited. “Convenience fees” cannot be added to SNAP transactions. SNAP customers might feel singled out if they are the only ones using the POS terminal and scrip.Terminals can be wired or wireless, but state-provided terminals cannot process debit transactions.
Tracking and allocating debit transaction fees to vendors modestly increases book-keeping requirements.
Terminals can be wired or wireless, but state-provided terminals cannot process debit and credit transactions.
“Convenience fees” cannot be added to credit card transac-tions.
Credit transaction fees are unpredictable because they in-clude a flat fee, plus a percent -age charge of the sale.
The percentage charged from the sale varies depending on the type of credit card used (bank card versus mileage/ award credit cards).
Tracking and allocating credit transaction fees to vendors is complex and increases book-keeping requirements due to the unpredictability of fees.
ProS ANd coNS of comBiNiNg SNAP wiTh crEdiT ANd dEBiT cArdS
3.Briggs, Krumbhaar, Schumacher. “Wireless Card Services: Supporting SNAP (Food Stamp), WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Programs,” 2009.
STEP 4: mArkET
and
PromoTE SNAP
farmers market organizers
know that marketing and promotion are important to a market’s success, and these efforts are even more vital when developing a SNAP project. In 2009, PPS received funding from the Rob -ert Wood Johnson Foundation to survey customers and nearby residents of eight farmers markets across the country. Preliminary findings indicate that a main reason people didn’t shop at their neighborhood farmers market was because they didn’t think it accepted SNAP, even though all eight markets did. Many farmers markets have limited budgets for advertising and promotional materials so managers need to be creative about how they promote their market and SNAP project.It is vital that the market staff spends time promoting SNAP to not only new customers, but to current customers, as well. Some of your loyal customers may receive SNAP benefits and not be aware that they can redeem them at the farmers market. If they already redeem FMNP coupons they might be eligible for SNAP and would possibly use it at the market, too.
As with all good marketing and promotional campaigns, knowing your target audience is the most impor-tant first step in reaching out to SNAP customers. As noted in Step 2: Know Your Customer, SNAP custom-ers may live in different neighborhoods, speak different languages, and read and listen to different media outlets than your current customer base. What may work for your current customer base may need to be adapted with new marketing strategies for a broader audience.
And finally, marketing and promotional tools and events are opportunities to highlight the benefits of your market to the community and the importance of healthy eat-ing for all. Therefore, remember that a good marketeat-ing/ promotions campaign for your SNAP project will do two things: 1) let people know that your market accepts SNAP and 2) educate them on the importance of healthy and fresh food.
STrATEgiES for rEAchiNg ThE SNAP cuSTomEr
Customers regularly cite “word of mouth” as the number one way they found out about a market. Happy custom-ers will always “sell” the market to their friends and fam-ily better than any advertisement, newsletter or flyer. However, there are strategies that can be put in place to specifically attract new SNAP customers or to let your cur -rent customers who receive SNAP benefits know that it is being redeemed at the market.
Printed materials
When designing promotional materials keep in mind that all printed materials should be clear, simple, and concise; and all of your market’s banners and in-market signage should say that SNAP is accepted. Photos of your
logo, plus vital information about the market is all you need to get your point across. Printed materi-als should not be too busy so that they distract and interfere with the message you want to convey. If your state has a state-specific name for SNAP, such as Michigan’s “Bridge Card,” make sure it is present on all materials. And, if your customer base refers to SNAP as food stamps then make sure all printed materials say SNAP/ food stamps. Every vendor that accepts SNAP should display at least one sign pro-moting the program which indicates that they accept it. Take every opportunity to remind people that the market accepts SNAP benefits, on market-wide ban -ners and on all advertising/public service announce-ment materials.
If SNAP customers in your community speak lan-guages other than English, translate all flyers, sig -nage, advertisements, recipes, and brochures into those languages.
market Staff
It’s important that market staff fully understand SNAP since they are the face of the market and can educate customers and potential customers about the program. You can consider recruiting someone who uses SNAP or is from the community where your SNAP customers live in order to coordinate and manage your program. They may be best prepared
to reach out to new customers; know where to advertise; what to communicate through your promotional materials, and more. Also, if the market is frequented by community members who do not speak English, make sure that someone on your staff and/or a volunteer speaks the other predominate languages. Cus -tomers will feel more welcome if they can communicate in their own language and will be better able to understand the details of the program.
EffEcTivE AdvErTiSiNg & mEdiA rElATioNS
When thinking about how to target your advertising, consider what newspapers your SNAP customers read, and the radio stations they listen to. If they use public transportation, what bus or train lines do they frequent? Are there church bulletins or neighborhood newsletters where you could advertise SNAP at your farmers market? A targeted effort, rather than an advertising campaign for the entire town or city, will cost less and will be more effective in reaching the intended audience.
The best advertising is free advertising in the form of news stories about the market or calendar listings in the local paper. Get to know your local reporters and pitch stories about your SNAP project, new and interesting products at the market, and upcoming events. Submit press releases because many local news-papers will simply re-print them. After you have developed a relationship with several reporters they will look to you for stories.
These days, a lot of people are interested in healthy, nutritious foods, including many local politicians. A SNAP project at the market is a feel-good story that most politicians will support. Invite them to a special event welcoming SNAP customers to your market and invite the local press to cover the story.
SPEciAl EvENTS
At the market
Special events focused on SNAP at the market will draw customer and media attention to your program. Cooking demonstrations, health fairs and cultural festivals, designed to draw new people to the market, should promote your market’s acceptance of SNAP. These events are also great tools for educating customers about the benefits of fresh, healthy foods; how to store and cook market products; and how SNAP is redeemed at the market. Some market operators use these events as an opportunity to invite local organi-zations into the market to help screen customers on their eligibility to participate in SNAP. But remember that events at the market are most effective when they support the market’s mission and pur -pose.
off-site
A great way to reach out to new customers is to promote your market’s acceptance of SNAP by participating at local health fairs, school events, and community festivals. Ask your local utility companies if they would add to their monthly bill a flyer promot -ing SNAP at the farmers market. Visit nearby community, WIC, or senior centers to introduce clients to your market and SNAP, and bring some market products to share. Also, you can provide signage
and flyers about the market’s acceptance of SNAP to your local SNAP and WIC offices, senior centers, hos -pitals, clinics, food pantries, schools, churches and relevant community centers.
lEArNiNg how To uSE SNAP AT ThE mArkET
Most farmers market transactions are easy—you pick up some corn or tomatoes, pay the farmer in cash, and enjoy your purchase. With SNAP, the transaction is simple but involves a couple more steps. Whether you use a Central POS System or Individual POS System, using SNAP benefits at the market is a bit more complicated than cash for customers and vendors. Educating your customers on how SNAP at the market works will increase the program’s success and acceptance. Make sure that the market staff and/or volun -teers are visible and accessible, and know how the program works. Have a designated table or information booth for SNAP, even if vendors have their own POS terminal, where customers can get information about the program and possibly find out if they qualify for SNAP. This table can be an education and marketing tool for SNAP and is a good place to display healthy recipes, flyers promoting SNAP at the market, and other educational material that customers can take and share with their neighbors.
Throughout the season, you may want to host a “SNAP at the Market” day where market staff orient new customers to the market with a tour, host a cooking demonstration, and provide a lesson on how to use
SuccESS wiTh SimPlE SigNAgE: EASTErN mArkET, dETroiT mi
www.detroiteasternmarket.com
operating since 1891
•
7 days a week, 5am-5pm, year-round
•
fruit, vegetables, plants, flowers, value-added products
•
over 125 vendors
•
20,000-40,000 customers per week
•
SNAP project started in 2007
•
over 65 vendors participate in SNAP
•
over 100 SNAP customers per week
•
$1,500 in SNAP revenue per week, on average
•
No debit or credit, but there are ATms located around property
•
“mo’ Bucks” incentive Program
•
SNAP sales over time: doubled each year
•
Number of participating SNAP vendors over time: 14 in 2007, to over
•
65 in 2009
detroit’s historic Eastern market
is the country’s largest market district. Every Saturday, the market district hosts a pub-lic market featuring regional farmers and vendors attracting over 25,000 custom
-ers. Eastern Market Corporation, which manages the district, sees the market as a multi-faceted anchor benefiting the great
-er Detroit area by supplying food access, economic development opportunities and serving as a safe, lively gathering space for the public. In addition, market opera
-tors believe that Eastern Market should be accessible to everybody, and SNAP acceptance is just one way to achieve that goal.
Since 2007, the Saturday market has been accepting SNAP, known in Michigan as the “Bridge Card.” In just two years the number of vendors participating has grown from 14 to over 65, with aver
-age SNAP sales reaching $1,500/week. In the beginning, market operators used traditional marketing tools to at
-tract SNAP customers, including advertisements on the city’s public buses. They found, however, that these were expensive and not very effective. Instead they focused their attention on SNAP signs which hang on participat
-ing vendors’ stands. They are simple and only have a photo of the state’s EBT card and “Tokens Accepted Here” underneath the photo. In addition, the market, which uses a Central POS System, where customers swipe their SNAP card and receive market tokens, installed a second SNAP booth so customers can be accommodated faster. Both of their SNAP booths are located near the market’s entrances where customers can easily find them.
Eastern Market touts “word of mouth” as another effective method for promoting SNAP at the market and the market’s leadership is deeply involved in the city’s food policy issues. Working with other community groups and agencies the market is able to get the word out about SNAP at the market and increase outside support for their program.
The flint farmers’ market
is a year-round market that has been accepting SNAP since 2002. Vendors use individual-ly-operated wired terminals which they either own or share. The market’s management uses a variety of market
-ing methods to get the word out about SNAP, includ-ing: radio announcements, church bulletins advertisements and promoting the market’s acceptance of SNAP to local community groups and organizations. While these have all proven to be important tools for getting the word out about their program to potential customers, the most ef
-fective way to increase SNAP usage has been through “word of mouth.” SNAP usage increases when friends and family members encourage each other to shop at the market.
One very effective way the Flint Farmers’ Market attracts and keeps their customer base happy is by hosting a weekly health fair every Tuesday throughout the summer. The market, together with local health and community organizations, host on-site health screenings and inoculations for kids, as well as WIC FMNP and SFMNP ori
-entations and on-site sign-ups for Head Start, WIC, and most importantly, SNAP. Because of the summer health fairs, the Flint Farmers Market has expanded from being a place where people gain access to fresh, local food to a
community gathering space where they can learn more about health, nutrition and Federal assistance programs. Plus, the Flint Farmers’ Market health fairs are fun community events which help market customers feel welcome. This is very important to the market manager who believes, “dignity is very important in all we do for our custom
-ers.”
mArkETiNg viA oNSiTE commuNiTy EvENTS:
fliNT fArmErS’ mArkET, fliNT mi
www.flintfarmersmarket.com
operating since 1905
•
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, 8am- 5pm, year-round
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complete range of food items sold
•
over 80 vendors in the summer (inside and outside), 30 vendors in
•
the winter (inside)
over 7,000 customers per week - summer, 2,000 customers per
•
week - winter
market revenue: on average $150,000 per week in the summer,
•
$20,000 per week in the winter SNAP project started in 2002
•
over 20 vendors participating in SNAP
•
over $60,000 in SNAP revenue in 2008
•
debit and credit card services
•
No incentive Program
•
Number of participating SNAP vendors over time: 3 in 2002, to over
•
STEP 5:
Create
PArTNErShiPS
launching and maintaining a successful SNAP project
requires a variety of partners, representing diverse groups from your community that can work to get the word out to potential SNAP customers, promote your SNAP project, and possibly assist with funding efforts. Farmers markets partner with a wide range of groups, including agriculture organizations, “buy local” initiatives, food access and poverty focused groups, as well as government and non-governmental civic groups.Most likely, your market is already working with some partners to build community, reach out to a new audience, and create cross-promotions, but you may want to explore new partnerships that will specifically support your SNAP project. Think “outside the box” about who might be able to support your efforts. Not all partners need to be associated with agricultural issues or nutrition education to be a good fit. The key to good partnerships is that both partners benefit from the relationship.
While some of your market’s partners will be central to the success of the SNAP project, others may just play a small but useful role, such as purchasing new banners for the market that promotes SNAP. Here are some of the ways partners of farmers markets are already supporting SNAP projects:
Ideally, partnership-building should begin during your early planning for SNAP. It is vital that your key partners are in place at the beginning of your program to help you create a strategy for success, and addi-tional partnerships can be developed as you progress. It is also useful to have a clear understanding of each partners’ commitments. For example, the WIC office may, at a minimum, agree to hang your market’s pro -motional SNAP signage in their waiting room. In return, your market should agree to display WIC program information at the market’s information table.
City, state and federal government agencies •
Local public health department •
SNAP administrative agency •
Local transportation department • WIC office • Senior Centers • Schools •
Hospitals, clinics and healthcare agencies •
Tenant Associations •
Food Pantries •
Anti-hunger and anti-poverty organizations •
Places of worship •
Economic development entities •
Neighboring farmers markets •
State farmers market associations •
And many more… •
Funding a portion of the SNAP project •
Hosting cooking demonstrations at the •
market
Re-routing public transportation to the •
market
Promoting the market to SNAP clientele •
Creating and distributing promotional •
materials
Funding an incentive program •
Screening market customers for SNAP •
eligibility at the market
Hosting a nutrition education table at the •
market
Translating marketing materials or funding •
that effort
Hosting a market representative to introduce •
clients to the program and explaining how it works
And much more… •
greenmarket
operates 50 producer-only farmers markets throughout all five of New York City’s boroughs. Since 2005, Greenmarket has been accepting SNAP at several of their farmers markets, but for the first several market seasons the program suffered from a lack of exposure and customers. However, Greenmarket has not only in-creased the number of markets that accept SNAP from three in 2005 to 28 in 2010, they have also in-creased the number of partners they work with to make this program one of the most successful in the country.
Working with a variety of partners at all levels of the government and community, Greenmarket has been better able to fund their SNAP project and reach more potential customers. Greenmarket was successful in showing the New York City Council that ac
-cepting SNAP benefits at their markets would be vital to improv
-ing the health of New York City residents, and was able to secure public support and funding for promotions and staffing. In part
-nership with New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the market was able to tap into the agency’s “Health Bucks” incentive program. Through this partnership, Greenmarket customers who redeem at least $5 in SNAP were given $2 “Health Bucks” to use towards fruits and vegetables at the market. Green
-market also partnered with the Human Resources Administration, which administers SNAP for the city, to help promote the project, by sending out mailings to their clients about the acceptance of SNAP at Greenmarkets. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Greenmarket has partnered with a number of com
-munity groups and organizations including food stamp offices, churches, soup kitchens, and food pantries to help spread the word face-to-face with potential customers that SNAP is accepted at many Greenmarkets.
This multi-level support has not only helped Greenmarket fund their SNAP project, allowing them to increase the number of markets that accept SNAP benefits, but it has also given them the opportunity to interact with poten
-tial SNAP customers and dispel any misconceptions they might have that Greenmarket is too expensive, thereby growing and diversifying the markets’ customer base. These partnerships have taken time to cultivate, but they have proven to be one of the most effective ways Greenmarket has reached more SNAP customers and increased sales for their farmers.
fuNdiNg SNAP Through SmArT PArTNErShiPS:
grEENmArkET, NEw york, Ny
www.grownyc.org/greenmarket
operating since 1976
•
Network includes 50 farmers markets, 28 of which accept SNAP
•
7 days/week, 8am-6pm, Seasonal & year-round
•
fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, dairy, cheese, baked goods,
•
honey, maple syrup, plants, herbs, flowers, etc. 195 vendors
•
Approximately 400,000 people visit one of the 50 markets per week
•
SNAP project started in 2005
•
82 vendors participate in SNAP
•
350 SNAP customers per week, on average
•
$9,150 in SNAP revenue per week in july 2009
•
debit and credit card services
•
$700 in credit card revenue per week in july 2009
•
“health Bucks” incentive Program
•
SNAP sales over time: $1,000 in 2005 to over $225,000 in 2009
•
Number of participating SNAP vendors over time: 14 in 2005, to 82 in
•
operating since 1995
•
Saturdays and Tuesdays, year-round
•
fruit, vegetables, seafood, baked goods, plants, etc.
•
27 vendors
•
2,000 customers per week, on average
•
$62,000 in market revenue per week, on average
•
SNAP project started in 2005
•
All applicable vendors participate in SNAP
•
35 SNAP customers per month, on average
•
$250-1,000 in SNAP revenue per month, on average
•
debit and credit card services
•
$22,500 in debit/credit revenue per month, on average
•
“marketmatch” incentive Program
•
SNAP sales over time: 980% increase
•
Number of participating SNAP vendors over time: all applicable
•
vendors have always participated.
The crescent city farmers market,
a project of marketumbrella.org, was one of the first markets in the U.S. to acceptSNAP after the introduction of the EBT card. They have been a model of the Central POS System for many mar
-kets who are interested in using a central POS terminal and wooden token system. The market works tirelessly to attract new customers, especially low-income customers, to their markets. Along with radio and public transporta
-tion advertisements, the farmers market organizers work with a multitude of partners who can help them connect one-on-one with potential customers.
One way they are engaging potential customers is through their Farmers Market Bingo game. Crescent City Farmers Market staff go to senior centers around the city and play bingo with their clients using specially made bingo cards, which have photos of fresh market items on them. Seniors not only enjoy a fun game of bingo, but they also learn about nutrition, what’s avail
-able and seasonal at the market, and how to use their SNAP and Sr.FMNP coupons at the market. Seniors are then invited to visit the market for a “Meet Me at the Market” guided tour and a chance to buy fresh market products. This face-to-face time with potential custom
-ers is important for breaking down the perception that the market is expensive or not welcoming.
cASE STudy
rEAchiNg A NEw cuSTomEr BASE Through your PArTNErShiPS:
crEScENT ciTy fArmErS mArkET: NEw orlEANS, lA
PArTNErShiPS AS ThE fouNdATioN of A fArmErS mArkET
SuccESS: ciTy hEighTS fArmErS mArkET, SAN diEgo, cA
www.cityheightsfarmersmarket.com
Strong partnerships are at the core of the
city heights farmers market
, the first farmers market to be held in this diverse and economically challenged neighborhood in San Diego County. The market began through a part-nership between the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Farm Bureau, in which the two orga-nizations agreed that the best way to support the market was for each orga-nization to work with their strengths and support their core missions. To help ensure that the market’s farm-ers/vendors would have adequate sales, the operators organized to ac-cept SNAP benefits and established an incentive program, called “Fresh Fund,” which provides supplemental funds for customers who purchasemarket products with SNAP benefits, WIC coupons or who are receiving SSI income. Redemption of these benefits and the Fresh Fund program also provides community members, who value and want to support local farmers, access to healthy, local food. IRC, which focuses on food access issues in the neighborhood, agreed to manage the market’s SNAP and Fresh Fund project, while the Farm Bureau agreed to manage the day-to-day operations and vendor relations of the market. From the beginning, this partnership worked not only for the customers, who line up as early as 5am to receive Fresh Funds and redeem benefits, but also for farmers and vendors who have sales which keep them coming back every week.
In July, 2009, the San Diego Hunger Coalition (SDHC), which was already working with the IRC prior to the market’s opening to help them develop their SNAP redemption project and served on the market’s Advisory Group, became a weekly presence at the market helping with SNAP outreach efforts. SDHC offers
operating since 2008
•
Saturdays, 9am–1pm, year-round
•
variety of vegetables and fruit, duck eggs, honey and more
•
13 vendors
•
1,000 customers per week, on average
•
$3,000 in market revenue per week, on average
•
SNAP project started in 2008
•
5 vendors participate in SNAP
•
77 SNAP customers per week, on average
•
$400 in SNAP revenue per week, on average
•
No debit/credit card services
•
“fresh fund” incentive Program
•
in may 2009, SNAP sales were 6% of total vendor sales, but by
•
february 2010 SNAP sales grew to 17% of total sales
SNAP and the fresh fund has been accepted since the market’s
•
voluntary SNAP eligibility screening and assistance in completing the application. In addition, they offer follow-up services associated with the application process including ensuring that necessary documen-tation is submitted and that the applicant takes the next steps toward receiving their EBT cards. SNAP eligible customers are also supplied with a temporary Fresh Fund card, while they wait for their SNAP ap-plication to be processed, which immediately allows them to use the Fresh Fund card at the market (once they are granted their SNAP benefits they are given a permanent card).
To assist in the SNAP pre-screening and application process, as well as help promote SNAP and the Fresh Fund program to the broader City Heights community, a “Promotora” program was developed, which hires people from the communities they are intended to serve. The Promotora’s unique understanding of cultural issues, language and values allow them to be “culture brokers” who are able to connect otherwise marginalized communities to important resources, such as SNAP. In City Heights, the market’s Promo-toras speak the prevalent languages of the neighborhood: Vietnamese, Spanish, Burmese, and Somali. On average, the SDHC screens 18-20 customers and processes 8-10 SNAP applications per week.
The City Heights Farmers Market, through this partnership between the IRC, Farm Bureau, SDHC, as well as several other community organizations, has become the community’s source for healthy food and an en-try point into the SNAP program while also providing regional farmers a profitable direct marketing outlet in a community often thought of as unable to support a sustainable farmers market.
STEP 6:
Consider
iNcENTivE ProgrAmS
in addition to marketing, education and outreach efforts
to attract SNAP customers to the market, some markets are turning to incentive programs to grow their SNAP customer base. SNAP is relatively new to farmers markets and many SNAP customers fear that prices may be too high for their limited budgets. An incentive program, providing bonus or matching funds for SNAP usage at markets, can be a great way to entice new customers while also providing more sales for the farmers/vendors and helping to dispel the notion that farmers markets are too expensive.Until recently, the USDA required that farmers markets submit a waiver to operate incentive programs. Be-ginning in the 2010 market season, however, markets must only notify FNS through the FNS Field Office so that the agency has a record of all incentive projects in operation across the U.S. While no other reporting is currently required by FNS, market operators may want to keep track of the following items:
The total value of scrip purchased with SNAP •
The total value of incentive coupons distributed •
The total value of scrip redeemed •
The total value of incentive coupons redeemed •
The total value of scrip purchased, but returned unused by SNAP customers •
While additional recordkeeping takes more time, it is an extremely useful method for evaluating your in-centive program and measuring SNAP usage at your market.
Many farmers markets across the country, including Greenmarket in New York City, the Holyoke Farmers Market in Holyoke, MA, and the City Heights Market in San Diego, CA, have launched incentive programs and early analysis shows that they appear to increase SNAP usage at markets and help SNAP customers get into the routine of shopping at farmers markets, and these SNAP shoppers continue as farmers market customers after the incentive program ends. The
incen-tive program at the City Heights Market was so successful it had to set a limit of $1,000 in incentive coupons given out each week (enough for 200 customers).4 Wholesome Wave, which works with markets to offer Double Value Coupon Programs (DVCP), reports that their market partners saw increases of SNAP sales by as much as 700% after offering incentive coupons, and of the farmers who participated in the DVCP, 66% indicated that DVCP increased their sales. While there are some hurdles to
overcome, such as identifying funding sources and targeting and reaching your intended audiences, early observations seems to show that incentive programs offer an excellent opportunity to maximize the success of a market’s SNAP project.
To implement an incentive program, a market must have the resources to pay for the matching or bonus dollars, this is where partnerships can play an important role. The pilot incentive programs in operation across the U.S. are funded by a variety of organizations, including foundations, local partners and govern-ments. If you are interested in organizing an incentive program, consider local partners too, such as the
department of health, a health and wellness center, health clinic or hospital, elder healthy and advocacy groups, food access organizations and faith-based groups, for the financial support required to match or offer bonus dollars to SNAP customers.
It doesn’t take a lot of money to start an incentive program; $500 could be enough depending on your market’s size and customer base. In fact, running out of funding or only having funding which covers a portion of your market season can be a good way to evaluate whether the incentive program has not only brought more SNAP customers to your market, but has turned them into repeat customers. If SNAP usage stays steady or increases after your incentive program ends, you will know that it was successful. An incen-tive program should be a tool, not a crutch, for increasing SNAP benefit redemption by making program participants more aware and more comfortable shopping at your farmers market.
Widely promoting the farmers market incentive program will increase its popularity and likelihood of suc-cess. Successful promotional materials clearly explain how the incentive program works and acknowledges all of the incentive program’s sponsors. Display signage at your market so that current as well as new cus-tomers are aware of the program. Encourage all of your partners to display signage and promote the incen-tive program to their clients and stakeholders. Your market could host a “kick-off” event attended by local notables (chefs, politicians, etc.) and the program’s sponsors, to celebrate the new program which would likely attract local media coverage.
Farmers markets with incentive programs are reporting high redemption rates and are attributing in-creased SNAP sales directly to this effort. Some markets, such as the City Heights Farmers Market, already attract a large number of their neighborhood’s SNAP recipients, but they continue to operate an incen-tive program because it helps increase the amount of healthy, fresh produce customers can purchase and consume. With funding and strong promotions, incentive programs are proving to be a powerful tool for growing your SNAP project and for sustained redemption rates.
greenmarket’s
managementis convinced that “Health Bucks,” their SNAP incentive program, is one of the most important reasons why their network of 50 farmers markets has dramatically increased not just the number of markets accepting SNAP, but also the number of customers using the program, as well as ven-dor sales from SNAP. In 2007, two years after Greenmarket started accepting SNAP at some of their mar-kets, Health Bucks was created in partnership with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). DOHMH made available $15,000 for residents of three city communities whose obe-sity, heart disease and diabetes rates were exceptionally high (Central Brooklyn, East Harlem, and South Bronx) to receive $2 Health Bucks, to be spentonly on fruits and vegetables, for every $5 in SNAP scrip they redeemed at Greenmarket. Due in large part to this program, Greenmar-ket saw SNAP sales increase from $14,097 in 2006 to $40,661 in 2007. This success led the DOHMH to increase funding for Health Bucks and in 2008 over $80,000 in Health Bucks were distributed at Greenmarkets and SNAP sales reached $100,772.
Seen as a “win-win” by both Greenmarket and the DOHMH, Health Bucks has helped to make several of New York City’s farmers mar-kets more accessible for those residents who desperately need access to fresh, local foods,
while also increasing revenue for vendors. With a 95-100% redemption rate, the Health Bucks incentive program clearly meets the needs of its target audience, the SNAP customers who want to buy healthy food for themselves and their families. Although the DOHMH was able to increase funding for Health Bucks, Greenmarket believes that it doesn’t take a lot of money to produce great results; smaller markets could operate successful incentive programs on much less. The strength of Health Bucks lies not only in its fund-ing, but in the time and energy that both partners, Greenmarket and DOHMH, have contributed towards improving community health and helping support small, family farmers.
ThE SuccESS of hEAlTh BuckS: grEENmArkET, NEw york, Ny
www.grownyc.org/greenmarket
operating since 1976
•
Network includes 50 farmers markets, 28 of which accept SNAP
•
7 days/week, 8am-6pm, Seasonal & year-round
•
fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, dairy, cheese, baked goods,
•
honey, maple syrup, plants, herbs, flowers, etc. 195 vendors
•
Approximately 400,000 people visit one of the 50 markets per week
•
SNAP project started in 2005
•
82 vendors participate in SNAP
•
350 SNAP customers per week, on average
•
$9,150 in SNAP revenue per week in july 2009
•
debit and credit card services
•
$700 in credit card revenue per week in july 2009
•
“health Bucks” incentive Program
•
SNAP sales over time: $1,000 in 2005 to over $225,000 in 2009
•
Number of participating SNAP vendors over time: 14 in 2005, to 82 in
•
operating since 1990
•
Thursdays, 11am-3pm, july-october
•
fruits, vegetables, honey, baked goods, Peruvian crafts
•
6 vendors, on average. 5 food vendors and 1 craft vendor
•
850 customers per week, on average
•
$4,100 market revenue per week, on average
•
SNAP project started in 2005
•
5 vendors participate in SNAP
•
50 SNAP customers per week, on average
•
$126 in SNAP revenue per week, on average
•
debit card services ($10 minimum per transaction)
•
$20 in debit revenue per week, on average
•
incentive Program
•
SNAP sales over time: 2005: $763, 2006 (incentive program began):
•
$1,012, 2007: $1,769, 2008: $2,266, 2009: $4,100
Number of participating SNAP vendors over time: Since 2005, two
•
more farmers are participating
cASE STudy
STEAdy, mEASurABlE growTh uSiNg iNcENTivES:
lyNN fArmErS’ mArkET, lyNN mA
www.thefoodproject.org
The lynn farmers’ market
is operated by The Food Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to youth andcommunity development and the creation of sustainable food systems. The organization manages and has a stall at the market where they sell produce grown in their nearby urban garden and suburban farms. In an effort to meet the fresh food needs of this struggling city, the Lynn Farmers’ Market has expanded to include not only the Food Project’s produce stand, but also several regional farmers and vendors.
The market has been accepting SNAP since 2005, but towards the end of the 2006 market season they re-ceived a small grant of $500 from Project Bread, a local non-profit, to create an incentive program, through which customers would receive an additional $5 in produce for every $5 they redeem in SNAP. Although the first year of the incentive program saw modest gains: ($1,012 in sales in 2006 versus $762 in 2005), the Food Project was able to see that just a small amount of incentive funding was enough to bring SNAP cus-tomers to their market and help them purchase healthy food for their families.
In an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of the incentive program, the Food Project offered the incentive program during only the first half of the 2007 market season. By keeping careful records, the Food Project was able to compare market days with the incentive to days with-out the incentive and they saw that most of their SNAP customers continued to shop at the market and SNAP sales did not go down significantly when the incentive had run out. While the incentive brought SNAP custom-ers to the market and got them in the habit of shopping it was the actual experience of the market and quality of the produce that kept them coming back. This evalu-ation is vital for cultivating relevalu-ationships with current and potential funders who want to know that their investment is paying off in terms of increased SNAP customers gaining access to fresh food and vendors increasing their revenue. Since the incentive program began, Project Bread has continued to provide the Food Project with $500-800 per market season for the incentive program, and SNAP sales have steadily climbed to $4,100 in 2009. While funding for this program is modest and often isn’t enough to last the entire 17-week market season, it shows that even small markets can start their own incentive programs and boost SNAP sales.
